Machine for cutting sheet material



w. STONE 2,131,153

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 14, 193'7 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Sept. 27, 1938.

Sept. 27, 1938.

w. l. STONE 2,131,153

MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHEET MATERIAL Filed June 14, 1957 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 F5513 v y UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE MACHINE FOR CUTTING SHEET MATERIAL Walter I. Stone, Worcester, `Mass., assignor of A.

one-half to John J. Adams, Shrewsbury, Mass.

Application June 14, 1937, Serial No. 148,160

This invention relates blanks It is often desire strips of material to cut blanks fro `17 claims.

'upper surface of the cutting bloc.

d, however, to cut blanks from of substantial length and also m a of the cutting die thereon.

It is the general 25 object of my invention to provide a cutting machine having provision for supand rearward in the machine with the cutting block.

and combinations after described land more particularly pointed out in the appended claims.

A preferred form 'the drawings, in which Fig. 1 is a partial machine embodyin of the invention is shown in side elevation of a cutting g my improvements;

Fig. 2 is a plan view thereof, with certain driving mechanism omitted;

Fig. 4 is a par modied construction;

Fig. 3 is a transverse sectional elevation, taken along the line 3 3 in Fig. 1; tial side elevation showing a and Fig. 5 is a partial side elevation showing a fur- "t er modication.

a utting block II, h d I4. The ba 551 )br ckets I5, prefer a cutting die I2 and a cutting se I0 is provided with offset ably each having a plurality of screws or other fastening devices 29. The cutt ting block II is commonly of Rolls 36 (Figs. l and 3) are mounted along the lower edges of the sides 25 of the carriage 24 and are supported on the anges 2| and guided by the strips 22.

wood.

projecting laterally a bracket 36 from one of the side members of the carriage 25'A mounted on the rollers 33 and 34, and the upper run of the belt is supported on intermediate rollers 39.

With this construction, extended strips of sheet material, supported on the conveyor belt 3B, the bracket 21 and the cutting block I I, and this entire structure may be moved forward and rearward in the cutting machine on the rolls and I6 previously described.

Means is preferably provided for moving the carriage 24 by power, and illustrative mechanism for this purpose is indicated in Fig. l. 40 is pivoted at 4I on the auxiliary base 20 and is v provided with a slot 42 to receive a stud 43 in the 40 side of the carriage 24. The lower end of the lever 40 has a stud-and-slot connection to a link 45, which in turn is pivoted on a crank-pin 46 in a disc 41 mounted at one end ofa crankshaft 48.

fApulleyV 49 is loose on the crankshaft 48 and is 45 connected by a belt 50 to a driving motor M. A one-revolution clutch of commercial design is solenoid coil 54 is energized, actuating the plunger 55 I either single or superposed, may beso",

.veyor belt sembled strips 53 and thereby moving the lever 52 to release the clutch and to effect a single revolution of the crankshaft 48.

The parts are so arranged that the cutting block II will come to rest in its normal forward position, as indicated in dotted lines in Fig. 1. When the clutch is released, the parts will move rearward to the position shown in full lines in Fig. 1, at which point the slotted connection between the link 45 and lever 40 will cause a substantial dwell, during which the cutting head I4 descends and forces the die I2 through the stock. As the cutting head then rises, the carriage 24 and cutting block II move forward or to the left in Fig. l, thus advancing the cutting block II and die I2 to convenient position for inspection of work or relocation of the die.

In the alternative arrangement shown in Fig. 4, the power mechanism for moving the carriage is omitted and a rack 60, pinion 6I and handwheel 62 are substituted, by which the carriage may be moved forward and reaward manually.

It is often desired to assemble a large number of superposed strips of material on the carriage 24, and for such purposes I provide a gauge-bar 55 (Figs. 1 and 2i) adjustably secured to the edges of the bracket 21 by screws 66. The gauge-bar 65 extends across the bracket 2'I but in vertically spaced relation thereto, and is provided with gauge-pins 68 which may be inserted to form stops when assembling the material. After the required number of strips have been assembled, the pins 68 are withdrawn so that the con- 38 may operate to advance the asto cutting position.

For convenience in assembling the strips, I preferably provide a stand 10 on which a roll R of sheet material may be supported.

It is also at times desirable to have an auxiliary carriage on which strips of stock may be assembled, while the machine is operating on stock previously assembled. For this purpose I may provide the auxiliary carriage 8|] shown in Fig. 5, supported on rolls 8l and provided with rollers 82 and 83, a conveyor belt 84 and intermediate rollers 85, all as previously described. The roll 83 may have a pinion 86 meshing with an intermediate gear 8l mounted on the carriage and positioned to engage a pinion 88 on the roller 33 previously described. A handle 90a on the side of the carriage 80 provides means by which the carriage may be advanced manually to cause the gear 81 and pinion 88 to mesh, whereupon the motor M may be operated to move 'the belts 38 and 84 simultaneously and to advance the assembled stock from the auxiliary carriage 80 to the regular carriage 24.

A safety switch 92 (Fig. 1) may be provided, which will be engaged by the end 26 of the carriage 24 when the carriage reaches its extreme forward or left-hand position, as viewed in Fig. l. Such engagement breaks the operating circuit of the cutting head I4, so that the head cannot descend until the stock-supporting parts and cutting block are returned to rearward operative position.

With the construction described, pieces of stock of any reasonable length and in very considerable numbers may be conveniently operated on by cutting dies and may be advanced and withdrawn in the machine, either manually or automatically. Furthermore, the assembled strips of stock may be collectively advanced relative to the cutting block II, `when cutting operaan'i'auxiliary support for tions upon a given portion of stock have been completed. If desired, a pinion (Fig. 5) and handle 9| may be provided for moving the conveyor belt 38 manually. The pinion 90 may mesh with the gear 88 previously described.

Having thus described my invention and the advantages thereof, I do not wish to be limited to the details herein disclosed, otherwise than as set forth in the claims, but what I claim isck1. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing long strips of sheet material which support extends substantially rearward from saidV cutting block, means to connect said support to move with said block, a bearing member on which said support is slidably mounted, and means to move said block and support simultaneously forward and rearward on said base and bearing member.

2. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing an auxiliary support for long strips of sheet material which support extends substantially rearward from said cutting block, means to connect said support to move with said block, a bearing member on which said support is slidably mounted, and automatic means to move said block and support simultaneously rearward and thereafter forward in a continuous cycle and to automatically stop said parts in extreme forward position. y

3. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, means to support and guide said carriage, means to connect said carriage to said cutting block, and means to move said carriage and block and the sheet material supported thereon as a unit relative to said cutting head.

4. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, means to support and guide said carriage, means to connect said carriage to said cutting block, and automatic means to give said carriage and cutting block and the sheet material thereon a single complete rearward and forward reciprocation as a unit relative to said cutting head.

5. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, means to support and guide said carriage, means to connect said carriage to said cutting block, and automatic means to give said carriage and cutting block and the sheet material thereon a single complete rearward and forward reciprocation as a unit relative to said cutting head and to bring said parts to rest in forward position 6. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, means to support and guide said carriage, means to connect said carriage to said cutting block, and automatic means to give said carriage and cutting block and the sheet material thereon a single complete rearward and forward reciprocation as a unitI relative to said cutting head, said automatic means being effective to bring said parts to re in forward position and to provide a dwell when said parts are in rearward position.

7. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, means to support and guide said carriage, means to connect said carriage to said cutting block, automatic means to give said carriage and cutting block and the sheet material thereon a single complete rearward and forward reciprocation as a unit relative to said cutting head and to bring said parts to rest in forward position, and said automatic means including a lost-motion device which provides a dwell between the rearward and forward movements of said parts.

8. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing mechanical means to alternately advance and withdraw the cutting block and sheet material relative to said cutting head, and additional means to advance said sheet material relative to said cutting block.

9. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a support for the sheet material which extends substantially rearward from said cutting block, automatic means to move said block and support simultaneously forward and rearward and to stop said parts in extreme forward position, and means to prevent operation of said cutting head when said parts are in extreme forward position.

10. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block, a cutting head and an oiTset support for said cutting block when in forward position, that improvement which consists in providing means to support substan- `tially elongated sheet material, means to move said sheet material forward along said support relative to the cutting block, and means to move said supported sheet material and cutting block forward as a unit relative to said cutting head, thereby advancing said cutting block over said offset support.

11. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block, a cutting head and an offset support for said cutting block when in forward position, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, a supporting member projecting forward from said carriage, means to connect said member to said cutting block, and means to move said block forward over said offset support and to simultaneously move said supporting member forward over said machine base.

12. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, 'means to move said sheet material forward along said carriage and relative to the cutting block, automatic means to move said carriage and cutting block forward as a unit relative to said cutting head and to stop said parts in forward position, and means to prevent operation of said cutting head when said parts are in forward position.

13. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head,

therewith, said power means being effective to move said sheet material forward along said carriage and relative to the cutting block, and means to move said carriage and cutting blockA forward as a unit relative to said cutting head.

14. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head,

that improvement which consists in providing a carriage to support said sheet material, means to support and guide said carriage,` means to connect said carriage to said cutting block, means to move said carriage and block and the sheet material supported thereon as a unit relative to said cutting head, a conveyor on said carriage, and means to actuate said conveyor to advance the sheet material along said carriage and relative to said cutting block. Y

15. The combination in a machine for cutting sheet material as set forth in claim 14, in which is provided an auxiliary carriage, a second conveyor, and means to drive said second conveyorv from said rst conveyor when said carriages are positioned closely adjacent each other.

16. The combination in a machine for cutting sheet material as set forth in claim 14, in which is provided a gauge device for said sheet material having the gauging elements thereof removable to permit passage of said sheet material through said device during operation of said machine.

17. In a machine for cutting sheet material having a base, a cutting block and a cutting head, that improvement which consists in providing a support for said sheet material, a conveyor on said support, means to move said conveyor to advance the sheet material along said support and relative to the cutting block, and means to move said support and said cutting block simultaneously to advance and withdraw the sheet material and cutting block relative to the cutting head.

WALTER I. STONE. 

